President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday responded to criticisms on the pace of his administration, saying he adopted the ‘slow’ style deliberately so that he would not make mistakes.
According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, the President gave the explanation while receiving a delegation of Women in Politics Forum at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
While defending the records of the administration in response to criticism that it is slow, Buhari was quoted as arguing that steps must be taken with caution to avoid mistakes.
He said any mistake by his administration would be a disaster for the country.
“People say we are slow. We are trying to change structures put in place by our predecessors in office for 16 years. If we hurry it, we will make mistakes. That will be a disaster,” the President said.
While decrying the spate of terrorism in the North East, Buhari told his guests that a committee to rehabilitate infrastructure and resettle Internally Displaced Persons in that part of the country would soon be inaugurated.
He said the committee, which would be led by Lt.- Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (retd.) would also include Alhaji Aliko Dangote.
He added that all forms of assistance in this respect generated locally and from foreign countries as promised by the G-7 would be channelled through the committee when it is inaugurated.
He said that he had compiled a list of damaged infrastructure, including schools and bridges and handed it to the leaders of the G7 and the United States, adding that “I didn’t ask for a Kobo (in cash). It is up to them to choose what they will undertake. Already, some of them have sent teams to verify our assertions.”
Buhari regretted that women and children are the worst victims of the Boko Haram sect.
He said, “In the North-East, what I saw for myself and on those clips is a source of concern for people with conscience.
“They are mostly women, and children who are orphaned. Some of them don’t even know where they come from. This is the pathetic situation in which the country has found itself.”
The President also said that the fight for the return of the Chibok girls is ongoing and “continues to be a most worrying issue” to his government.
He promised that his administration would do all within its powers in making the best efforts to secure their freedom.
The President acknowledged the case made by the WIPF for better representation of women in his government and assured that women would fare well in the composition of parastatals and their boards in the first quarter of the year.
He also assured them that the country has a budget proposal for the new year that is good for employment and manufacturing.
“By the end of the second quarter, the full impact of these positive measures will be felt,” he told the visiting women.
The WIPF, made up of women leaders from 26 registered political parties led by Ebere Ifendu of the Labour Party expressed their full support for the government’s war on corruption and insecurity.
They asked the administration to enact laws to promote gender equality as well as action towards the implementation of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act Punch Newspaper ..
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